André Ferland inducted into Canadian Curling Hall of Fame

The Canadian Curling Association (CCA) today announced the induction of André Ferland of Trois-Rivières, Quebec into the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame in the Builder category.

The Drummondville-born, 68-year-old Ferland has been both an innovator and high profile coach in the sport of curling. He was intimately involved with popularizing the use of the stopwatch to measure take-out weight and draw shot weight to assist sweepers in determining rock speed at release, facets of the game which are used worldwide today.

André Ferland

Mr. Ferland refined what was a novel approach to the delivery of the stone: the ‘no-lift delivery’. Ferland advanced and standardized the technique that is now used extensively. The no-lift delivery is arguably the most significant change in the sport in the last 30 years, increasing the skill level of both high performance athletes and recreational curlers.

In the early 1990s, Ferland began experimenting with an oval brush head that swiveled from the handle. This molded, carbon fibre brush made its debut at the 2002 Brier and, thus, the Performance Brush was born. This type of broom and replicas of it dominate the curling landscape today.

Ferland coached two Quebec junior men’s teams to national titles, the first by skip Denis Marchand in 1980 in Sault Ste. Marie, the second by skip Michel Ferland in 1992 in Vernon, BC. Overall, he has coached teams at 10 Canadian Juniors, two World Juniors, two Briers, three Tournament of Hearts and was a CCA Team Leader at five World Junior championships. He has also coached France at the World Men’s Curling Championship.